WEBVTT

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During a long day spent roaming the forest
in search of edible grains and herbs,

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the weary divine farmer Shennong
accidentally poisoned himself 72 times.

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But before the poisons could end his life,

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a leaf drifted into his mouth.

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He chewed on it and it revived him,

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and that is how we discovered tea.

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Or so an ancient legend goes at least.

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Tea doesn't actually cure poisonings,

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but the story of Shennong,

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the mythical Chinese inventor 
of agriculture,

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highlights tea's importance 
to ancient China.

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Archaeological evidence suggests tea
was first cultivated there

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as early as 6,000 years ago,

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or 1,500 years before the pharaohs built
the Great Pyramids of Giza.

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That original Chinese tea plant

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is the same type that's grown 
around the world today,

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yet it was originally consumed
very differently.

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It was eaten as a vegetable
or cooked with grain porridge.

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Tea only shifted from food
to drink 1,500 years ago

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when people realized that a combination
of heat and moisture

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could create a complex and varied taste
out of the leafy green.

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After hundreds of years of variations
to the preparation method,

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the standard became to heat tea,

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pack it into portable cakes,

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grind it into powder,

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mix with hot water,

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and create a beverage 
called muo cha, or matcha.

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Matcha became so popular that a distinct
Chinese tea culture emerged.

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Tea was the subject of books and poetry,

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the favorite drink of emperors,

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and a medium for artists.

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They would draw extravagant pictures
in the foam of the tea,

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very much like the espresso art
you might see in coffee shops today.

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In the 9th century 
during the Tang Dynasty,

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a Japanese monk brought the first
tea plant to Japan.

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The Japanese eventually developed
their own unique rituals around tea,

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leading to the creation 
of the Japanese tea ceremony.

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And in the 14th century 
during the Ming Dynasty,

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the Chinese emperor 
shifted the standard

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from tea pressed into cakes
to loose leaf tea.

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At that point, China still held a
virtual monopoly on the world's tea trees,

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making tea one of three 
essential Chinese export goods,

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along with porcelain and silk.

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This gave China a great deal of power
and economic influence

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as tea drinking spread around the world.

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That spread began in earnest
around the early 1600s

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when Dutch traders brought tea to Europe
in large quantities.

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Many credit Queen Catherine of Braganza,
a Portuguese noble woman,

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for making tea popular with
the English aristocracy

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when she married King Charles II in 1661.

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At the time, Great Britain was in the
midst of expanding its colonial influence

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and becoming the new dominant world power.

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And as Great Britain grew,
interest in tea spread around the world.

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By 1700, tea in Europe sold for ten times
the price of coffee

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and the plant was still 
only grown in China.

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The tea trade was so lucrative

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that the world's fastest sailboat, 
the clipper ship,

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was born out of intense competition
between Western trading companies.

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All were racing to bring their tea
back to Europe first

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to maximize their profits.

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At first, Britain paid
for all this Chinese tea with silver.

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When that proved too expensive,

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they suggested trading tea 
for another substance, opium.

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This triggered a public health problem
within China

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as people became addicted to the drug.

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Then in 1839, a Chinese official 
ordered his men

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to destroy massive 
British shipments of opium

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as a statement against 
Britain's influence over China.

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This act triggered the First Opium War
between the two nations.

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Fighting raged up and down 
the Chinese coast until 1842

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when the defeated Qing Dynasty ceded
the port of Hong Kong to the British

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and resumed trading on unfavorable terms.

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The war weakened China's global standing
for over a century.

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The British East India company also
wanted to be able to grow tea themselves

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and further control the market.

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So they commissioned 
botanist Robert Fortune

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to steal tea from China 
in a covert operation.

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He disguised himself 
and took a perilous journey

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through China's mountainous tea regions,

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eventually smuggling tea trees 
and experienced tea workers

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into Darjeeling, India.

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From there, 
the plant spread further still,

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helping drive tea's rapid growth
as an everyday commodity.

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Today, tea is the second most consumed
beverage in the world after water,

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and from sugary Turkish Rize tea,

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to salty Tibetan butter tea,

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there are almost as many ways
of preparing the beverage

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as there are cultures on the globe.